Most desktop computers and similar devices have a boot loader. The function of the boot loader is to load an operating system into the computer's main memory or random access memory (RAM). Once the operating system is loaded (for example, on a PC, when you see the initial Windows or Mac desktop screen), it is ready for users to run applications.
The boot loader is a small program that loads the operating system into the computer. Furthermore, a boot loader can give the user the choice to load an operating system from a list of available operating systems. This would be done by creating partitions in the Flash memory, hard disk or Read Only Memory (ROM). Each partition would include a single operating system or user data. During the booting process the user would be prompted to select from the list of available operating systems. Once the choice is made, the boot loader proceeds to load the desired operating system into RAM and then hand control to the operating system.
Embedded devices such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones are being widely adopted in everyday life. Embedded computers are also built into appliances such as microwave ovens and used extensively in industrial control. The manufacturers of these devices have to sell devices where a wide variety of hardware and software is available on the device. The consumers of these devices can be largely non-technical people with no knowledge of how to fix or modify these devices if need be. There might be thousands of these devices that need the same software or upgrades.
In the past, when a device is corrupted or the software needs to be replaced, the customer is expected to send it back to the manufacturer for repair. Repair might take weeks or months. There is a need for a system that will allow the user to get immediate repair of a corrupted device or updates to an outdated device with very little effort or knowledge.
It is an object of this invention to provide a boot loader with standard Internet protocols (HTTP, TFTP, FTP) to allow the disassociation of the software and hardware at the manufacturing time. The boot loader should maintain all the functionality of a traditional boot loader as described above, such as partition of the device's memory in order to facilitate the loading of multiple operating systems. Additionally, the boot loader should allow for the device image (partition) to be loaded using Internet protocols.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a boot loader that allows a device to have disaster recovery features. Whenever a virus, or any other factor corrupts the device, it will automatically attempt to restore itself to a working state via the boot loader.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a boot loader that allows a device to automatically update software running on, or data required by the device whenever an update is available.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a boot loader that is operated by a simple scripting language that instructs a device to check for an update of data on a periodic basis. The scripting language may also include instructions to download further scripts off the Internet that augment the execution of the script.